Lesson Title: Meiosis and Mitosis/Meiosis Jigsaw Puzzles
State Standards:
LS3 (Ext) - 7 Students demonstrate an understanding of Natural Selection/ evolution by… 7aa distinguishing the stages of mitosis and meiosis and how each contributes to the production of offspring with varying traits
Context of Lesson:
This lesson will be to secure students knowledge of two important and complicated types of cell division. Students will open with going through the phases of mitosis and meiosis, and then create and solve jigsaw puzzles of the two. Students will finish by connecting mitosis and meiosis to the function and discipline of the body.
Materials:
soft ball
scissors
colored pencils
two pieces of construction paper per student
rulers
glue
Students will be able to differentiate between the phases of mitosis and meiosis.
Students will be able to create a jigsaw puzzle including all of the steps of mitosis or meiosis in order.
Students will be able to solve a jigsaw puzzle created by a fellow student of the phases of mitosis and meiosis completely.
Instruction:
Opening:
"By now you know you have a combination of your parents DNA. If this is true (and it is), why don't you have double the number of chromosomes?" This does not happen because sperm and egg cells form during meiosis instead of mitosis. Instead of diploid cells, these are haploid.
Engagement:
Students will learn the two different portions of meiosis throughout which they will compare it to meiosis. In each phase up until round II, I will ask students if this stage also happens in Mitosis. Students will be able to see where they diverge based on this discussion right from the very beginning.
Closing:
Students will generate a Venn diagram of the similarities and differences between Mitosis and Meiosis. They will brainstorm some basic ideas in class and will take home the paper to finish with the held of their book for homework.
Opening:
"What are your cells doing while you sit in class?" There will be a review of the steps of mitosis for the class. I will start by tossing a ball to one student and asking the question "What are your skin cells doing?" By looking at a list of words on the board the student will have to say "My cells are in Prophase of Mitosis (or whichever they choose)" and then have to explain what is happening. This option will have to then be crossed off the board until there are no options left. Students will continue to throw the ball to other students who have raised their hands willing to explain a step until all steps are defined. This exercise should be quick and take no more than 10-15 minutes. Because the mitosis lesson occurred the previous week along with the cell cycle, students may or may not have open notes for this activity depending on how much they seem to retain.
Engagement:
Students will spend 45 minutes creating their own jigsaw puzzle about mitosis or meiosis (half the class does one, the other half the other). The puzzle can involve pictures only, or pictures and words and can be as many pieces as they would like. Each whole phase and/or whole phase descriptor must be on its own block to make sure that the puzzle is solved based on students knowledge of the material. The second half of the class students will switch with a student that made a puzzle for the other type of cell division, and will have to put the puzzle together, gluing it to the second piece of construction paper.
Closure:
To bring the lesson together and have the students think about why mitosis and meiosis happen, students will have to reflect on the following questions as a group
Why would cells need to/want to divide?
When/Where in the body would cells stop dividing and want to grow larger?
Assessment:
This will be an informal assessment based on the puzzle each student made, and put together. These puzzles will help determine if the students have a full understanding of the two major types of cell division before moving on to the next portion of the unit, based on their ability to accurately draw out and name the phases, and ability to put together a puzzle created by another student. Also, based on the opening activity I will be able to observe how well they have grasped the material so far.
Lesson Plan
Lesson Title: Meiosis and Mitosis/Meiosis Jigsaw Puzzles
State Standards:
LS3 (Ext) - 7Students demonstrate an understanding of
Natural Selection/ evolution by…
7aa distinguishing the stages of mitosis and meiosis and how each contributes to the
production of offspring with varying traits
Context of Lesson:
This lesson will be to secure students knowledge of two important and complicated types of cell division. Students will open with going through the phases of mitosis and meiosis, and then create and solve jigsaw puzzles of the two. Students will finish by connecting mitosis and meiosis to the function and discipline of the body.Materials:
soft ballscissors
colored pencils
two pieces of construction paper per student
rulers
glue
Objectives:
Students will be able to differentiate between the phases of mitosis and meiosis.Students will be able to create a jigsaw puzzle including all of the steps of mitosis or meiosis in order.
Students will be able to solve a jigsaw puzzle created by a fellow student of the phases of mitosis and meiosis completely.
Instruction:
Opening:
"By now you know you have a combination of your parents DNA. If this is true (and it is), why don't you have double the number of chromosomes?" This does not happen because sperm and egg cells form during meiosis instead of mitosis. Instead of diploid cells, these are haploid.Engagement:
Students will learn the two different portions of meiosis throughout which they will compare it to meiosis. In each phase up until round II, I will ask students if this stage also happens in Mitosis. Students will be able to see where they diverge based on this discussion right from the very beginning.Closing:
Students will generate a Venn diagram of the similarities and differences between Mitosis and Meiosis. They will brainstorm some basic ideas in class and will take home the paper to finish with the held of their book for homework.Opening:
"What are your cells doing while you sit in class?" There will be a review of the steps of mitosis for the class. I will start by tossing a ball to one student and asking the question "What are your skin cells doing?" By looking at a list of words on the board the student will have to say "My cells are in Prophase of Mitosis (or whichever they choose)" and then have to explain what is happening. This option will have to then be crossed off the board until there are no options left. Students will continue to throw the ball to other students who have raised their hands willing to explain a step until all steps are defined. This exercise should be quick and take no more than 10-15 minutes. Because the mitosis lesson occurred the previous week along with the cell cycle, students may or may not have open notes for this activity depending on how much they seem to retain.Engagement:
Students will spend 45 minutes creating their own jigsaw puzzle about mitosis or meiosis (half the class does one, the other half the other). The puzzle can involve pictures only, or pictures and words and can be as many pieces as they would like. Each whole phase and/or whole phase descriptor must be on its own block to make sure that the puzzle is solved based on students knowledge of the material. The second half of the class students will switch with a student that made a puzzle for the other type of cell division, and will have to put the puzzle together, gluing it to the second piece of construction paper.Closure:
To bring the lesson together and have the students think about why mitosis and meiosis happen, students will have to reflect on the following questions as a groupWhy would cells need to/want to divide?
When/Where in the body would cells stop dividing and want to grow larger?
Assessment:
This will be an informal assessment based on the puzzle each student made, and put together. These puzzles will help determine if the students have a full understanding of the two major types of cell division before moving on to the next portion of the unit, based on their ability to accurately draw out and name the phases, and ability to put together a puzzle created by another student. Also, based on the opening activity I will be able to observe how well they have grasped the material so far.